An Improvement to the High-Spectral-Resolution CO2-Slicing Cloud-Top Altitude Retrieval

Abstract An improvement to high-spectral-resolution infrared cloud-top altitude retrievals is compared to existing retrieval methods and cloud lidar measurements. The new method, CO2 sorting, determines optimal channel pairs to which the CO2 slicing retrieval will be applied. The new retrieval is applied to aircraft Scanning High-Resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS) measurements. The results are compared to existing passive retrieval methods and coincident Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) measurements. It is demonstrated that when CO2 sorting is used to select channel pairs for CO2 slicing there is an improvement in the retrieved cloud heights when compared to the CPL for the optically thin clouds (total optical depths less than 1.0). For geometrically thick but tenuous clouds, the infrared retrieved cloud tops underestimated the cloud height, when compared to those of the CPL, by greater than 2.5 km. For these cases the cloud heights retrieved by the S-HIS correlated closely with the level at which the CPL...

[1]  H. Revercomb,et al.  RECENT RESULTS FROM TWO NEW AIRCRAFT-BASED FOURIER-TRANSFORM INTERFEROMETERS : The Scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder and the NPOESS Atmospheric Sounder Testbed Interferometer , 2000 .

[2]  Jun Li,et al.  Minimum Local Emissivity Variance Retrieval of Cloud Altitude and Effective Spectral Emissivity—Simulation and Initial Verification , 2004 .

[3]  David M. Winker,et al.  Combined Lidar-Radar Remote Sensing: Initial Results from CRYSTAL-FACE and Implications for Future Spaceflight Missions , 2004 .

[4]  William L. Smith,et al.  Comparison of Satellite-Deduced Cloud Heights with Indications from Radiosonde and Ground-Based Laser Measurements , 1978 .

[5]  V. S. Scott,et al.  Cloud physics lidar: instrument description and initial measurement results. , 2013, Applied optics.

[6]  Laurence S. Rothman,et al.  Atmospheric Spectral Transmittance And Radiance: FASCOD1 B , 1981, Other Conferences.

[7]  Richard A. Frey,et al.  On Cloud Altitude Determinations from High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS) Observations , 1990 .

[8]  S. Ackerman,et al.  A Comparison of GOES Sounder– and Cloud Lidar- and Radar-Retrieved Cloud-Top Heights , 2005 .

[9]  M. Chahine,et al.  Remote sounding of cloudy atmospheres. II - Multiple cloud formations , 1977 .

[10]  William L. Smith,et al.  Improved Cloud Motion Wind Vector and Altitude Assignment Using VAS. , 1983 .

[11]  H. Zwally,et al.  Overview of ICESat's Laser Measurements of Polar Ice, Atmosphere, Ocean, and Land , 2002 .

[12]  W. Menzel,et al.  Two years of cloud cover statistics using VAS. [Visible infrared spin scan radiometer Atmospheric Sounder] , 1989 .

[13]  W. Paul Menzel,et al.  Airborne Scanning Spectrometer for Remote Sensing of Cloud, Aerosol, Water Vapor, and Surface Properties , 1996 .

[14]  William L. Smith,et al.  AIRS/AMSU/HSB on the Aqua mission: design, science objectives, data products, and processing systems , 2003, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[15]  William L. Smith,et al.  THE DETERMINATION OF SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURE FROM SATELLITE HIGH RESOLUTION INFRARED WINDOW RADIATION MEASUREMENTS , 1970 .

[16]  W. Menzel,et al.  Discriminating clear sky from clouds with MODIS , 1998 .

[17]  Bruce A. Wielicki,et al.  Satellite Instrument Calibration for Measuring Global Climate Change: Report of a Workshop , 2004 .

[18]  Moustafa T. Chahine,et al.  Remote Sounding of Cloudy Atmospheres. I. The Single Cloud Layer , 1974 .

[19]  A. Mcnally,et al.  A cloud detection algorithm for high‐spectral‐resolution infrared sounders , 2003 .

[20]  William L. Smith,et al.  NIMBUS-5 sounder data processing system, part I : measurement characteristics and data reduction procedures , 1974 .

[21]  William L. Smith,et al.  A REGRESSION METHOD FOR OBTAINING REAL-TIME TEMPERATURE AND GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT PROFILES FROM SATELLITE SPECTROMETER MEASUREMENTS AND ITS APPLICATION TO NIMBUS 3 “SIRS” OBSERVATIONS , 1970 .